'Malchieli is a murderer!' Shas condemns protests against MK over haredi draft law

BySHIR PERETSAUGUST 23, 2026 09:38Updated: AUGUST 23, 2026 09:40Shas condemned on Sunday a group of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters from the Jerusalem Faction (Peleg Yerushalmi) who surrounded MK Michael Malchieli's vehicle and shouted at him after the weekly Torah lesson of the party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, in Jerusalem on Saturday night.Protesters surrounded Malchieli's car and banged on it while shouting "Malchieli is a murderer," footage shared on social media showed,"This is an extremist, anarchist fringe group that is causing severe harm to the haredi public and the Torah world and is cooperating with left-wing organizations in an attempt to harm the right-wing bloc and those who uphold Jewish tradition," Shas said in response to the incident."No thug will intimidate members of Knesset or divert the Shas movement from its path, the path of unity, Torah, and love of Israel," the party added.Shas party leader Aryeh Deri arrives to a Shas faction meeting at the Knesset, May 11, 2026. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Malchieli has stated he did not believe haredi community should have total exemption from IDF serviceThe protest stemmed from anger among haredi protesters over Malchieli’s support for advancing legislation intended to regulate the status of haredi yeshiva students and military service.Malchieli has stated that full-time yeshiva students should be able to defer military service as long as Torah study is their occupation, and recently told Ynet he would "not ask for a collective exemption for the ultra-Orthodox."Follow us on Google